WRAL Investigates history of burial mistakes in NC. Attorneys believe 'hundreds' could be impacted

A new federal class action lawsuit highlights burial concerns first covered by WRAL in 2019, as well as recent claims in which people were wrongfully buried in cemeteries all owned by the same parent company. 

Two Wake Forest parents are suing Everstory Partners, a cemetery company based in Florida, claiming Pine Forest Memorial Gardens mistakenly buried another person in the plot they purchased so they could be beside their deceased child. The filing appeared in federal court several days before a WRAL Investigation into a separate Wake County family, alleging a stranger was wrongfully buried in a plot they purchased at Montlawn Cemetery. 

Everstory Partners owns both cemeteries, as well as 400 cemeteries across the United States. A spokesperson representing the company said they are not commenting further on the pending litigation.

According to previous reporting, this is now at least the second occurrence of this kind of mix-up at Montlawn and the third instance involving an Everstory property. 

In 2019, a Garner man was exhumed after a gravesite had been double-sold. In that case, the original deed owners of a purchased plot actually petitioned a court to have Kizzie Sewell's husband, Winfred Barnes, moved. He died of a heart attack at work on Christmas Eve in 2014.    

Sewell purchased a gravesite shortly after his death for $3,150 at Montlawn Cemetery, where he was buried a few days later on Dec. 31, 2014. 

Barnes' body was dug up from the spot where he had been buried five years previously. Sewell, seven years after the fact, sat down with WRAL again to share how the trauma still sits with her family. 

"I think we all still suffer," Sewell said. "When it's mentioned to people, it's still like a total shock that we were made to do what was asked, you know?"

'Once you're buried, you're buried'

Seven years later, Sewell says she still places blame on Montlawn and its staff for the operational mistakes that led to her husband being exhumed. 

"They were unorganized. I mean, they made a careless mistake. And for me, it's just, I can't forgive. I will never forgive them for that mistake that they made," Sewell said.  

The Greene family and Kizzie Sewell represent the same dilemma just seven years apart: multiple people being told that they had the right to bury a loved one in a particular cemetery space at Montlawn. 

The Greene family learned that a cremated person was buried in one of the spaces they bought for their daughters. Through talking with the family of that buried individual, they learned that the individual who was moved into the Greenes' plot was placed there because another person-- separate from either family-- was buried in the plot the other family purchased for themselves, too. 

Although she's lived through this situation before, she still finds herself surprised by the Greenes' story. 

"I would have thought that what happened with us was a one-off mistake, right? It happened, and everyone that I spoke to was like, 'I've never heard of this before.' So I thought maybe, that a lesson would have been learned and they would have been more careful. So I am actually surprised that it's happened again," Sewell says. 

Mistaken burial at Pine Forest Memorial Gardens 

According to court records, two Wake Forest parents lost their son in March 2021 and then buried their child's remains at Pine Forest Memorial Gardens. They also purchased two additional plots so they could be buried at their son's feet when they passed. 

Four years later, upon a gravesite visit, the parents discovered what appeared to be "another body" buried in the plot they owned next to their son. 

"Another employee of the cemetery 'placed a rod in the ground and confirmed again that someone was buried there,'" reads the complaint. 

The family is filing the suit on counts of:

• Intentional infliction of emotional distress
• Breach of contract
• Negligence
• Unfair and deceptive trade practices
• Common law fraud

"As direct and proximate result of Defendants' fraud, plaintiffs have suffered damages in an amount to be proven at trial," the records state.

 The Wake Forest parents are being represented by Sauder Schelkopf, a law firm that represents families in other funeral home and cemetery matters, as well as Bochetto and Lentz.

'While rare, it is not unheard of' | Complaints received by NC Cemetery Commission

The Greene family raised concern about the burial mix-up to the NC Cemetery Commission, but says it didn't help them resolve the matter with Montlawn staff. 

"We told them what had happened, and they basically told us they couldn't really do anything for us."

WRAL requested copies of complaints from the commission. Citing North Carolina state code, they were withheld.

Glenn Cutler, Executive Director for the commission, confirmed it has received 30 complaints against Montlawn dating back to 2020. However, the Commission has not taken formal action against the cemetery. 

"We have received and processed complaints related to Montlawn as previously noted, but none have resulted in formal action by the Commission," Cutler says. 

William Gaffney, President of the NC Cemetery Commission, said the Greenes' situation arose from "mistakes and errors and not generally from overall poor cemetery management or operations."

As WRAL reported, the North Carolina Attorney General's Office received at least eight consumer complaints regarding Montlawn in recent years. Its parent company, Everstory Partners, has dozens of negative reviews and complaints that are publicly available via the Better Business Bureau. 

"Disciplinary actions in these cases would generally serve no purpose or benefit. The goal of the Commission in these cases is to work toward consumers being made whole and finding satisfaction with corrective actions taken," Gaffney wrote to WRAL. 

Gaffney also wrote that because the situation is considered "rare," there is no standard remedy.